


Four Pearls

by deadly_poison



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Double Drabble, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Gen, Quadruple Drabble, Slavery, Slice of Life, Suicidal Thoughts, Triple Drabble, defective pearl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-08 13:12:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11082291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadly_poison/pseuds/deadly_poison
Summary: Four drabbles about four Pearls and their lives.





	1. Rebel Pearl

**Author's Note:**

> Pearls had a lot of screentime in the newest episodes *.*  
> So here's four drabbles about four different Pearls (the stories are not connected to one another, however).  
> If a character is tagged but is not in the fic yet, do not worry, their drabble is coming. Plus, the reason why this fic is tagged as 'no romantic relationship' and 'rhodonite - relationship' is that, in 3 out of 4 drabbles, there's no romantic relationships, but the last drabble is about Rhodonite's component gems.

This time around, her master was an Agate.  
She didn’t even pay attention to the ceremony that marked the quartz as her new owner. She supposed it wasn’t different from the other four ceremonies she’d already been through. She didn’t care about why she’d been awarded to her. Besides, she never stayed with the same Gem for long.  
It was always like this.  
Her master would show her around and introduce her to her colleagues, expecting her to act calm while they judged her form as if they had the right do to that.  
They’d always praise the velvety texture of her clothes, hallmark of a Pearl who should have served a Diamond, but who’d come out slightly wrong. She’d learned soon that they didn’t appreciate it when she bit their fingers and pushed them away from her.  
So, she had taught herself how to not be truly there. An useful trick, really. She welcomed the familiar feeling of detachment.  
Their voices didn’t sound as close and as loud now.

Her value was going down. She knew that. Soon, there would be no more gems that were both low-ranking enough to be awarded a second (well, fifth)-hand Pearl, and high-ranking enough to deserve a Pearl.  
Maybe they’ll give her to a simple Quartz soldier. Or a Ruby. She shuddered.  
There was only so much Gems were willing to endure to show off what little status they had. Her emotional outbursts were too much for anyone, that had been proven more than once.  
This was probably her last shot. She couldn’t snap at Agate. She couldn’t do anything she didn’t want her to do, if she wanted to live. Pearl wasn’t sure about that, however.

Her Agate had been summoned by Pink Diamond. She proudly walked towards her quarters, while Pearl followed her. She could feel some Gems stare at her. This had been going on since the day she’d abandoned her first owner because the room had got too noisy. Ignoring them, she opened the door for her Agate, then followed her.  
She suddenly found herself in a room filled with soldiers. Loud, pushy, huge soldiers.  
When she managed to regain her focus, she started listening to what Pink Diamond was saying.  
“I have a special task for you, Agate. You are to train my newest vein of Quartzes,” Pink Diamond said, gesturing towards the crowd of Rose Quartzes.


	2. Blue Pearl

She listened to any and every conversation. Every argument. She eagerly followed every order.  
Open the door, Pearl. Dance, Pearl. Fuse, Pearl. It didn’t bother her.  
Sometimes she cried, even if she didn’t want to. She hated crying when she wasn’t sad. She hated it even more than the face Yellow Pearl always made to remind her that her Diamond wasn’t a crying mess.

Pearls didn’t speak unless it was required of them, but Pearls could speak to themselves whenever they wanted to, in their heads. Pearls didn’t show any emotions to others, unless they were required to, but they could feel whatever they wanted, as long as they kept it hidden. She was the only Pearl that wasn’t allowed to feel whatever she wanted, in the privacy of her own gem.  
At least, she supposed she was. She’d never asked any other Pearl about that, Pearls weren’t supposed to talk among themselves. She’d never asked her Diamond about that, Pearls weren’t supposed to ask questions about themselves.

Still, hundreds of years after the end of the war, she’d talked to herself, because nobody had ever told her not to.  
And, she’d understood she wasn’t sad. She didn’t want to be. She’d understood that she didn’t care that Pink Diamond was dead, she’d never even spoke to her! Yet, she had no choice but to cry about her death. Every time she cried, sadness overtook her, but it wasn’t her sadness. She didn’t want to feel that sadness. She didn’t understand it. The other Diamonds had already stepped in to do Pink Diamond’s job, it wasn’t like society had collapsed.  
She knew that she hated crying, yet she had no choice but to cry.  
She suspected that Rose Quartz’s Pearl only cried when she wanted to… and she felt jealous.


	3. Yellow Pearl

Yellow Diamond had been working nonstop since Rose Quartz’s… escape. She hadn’t as much as looked towards her, not even to give her orders. Pearl could tell she was still angry. It wasn’t safe to move from the spot she was in.  
“Pearl, did you stop transcribing the trial before it was over?”  
Yellow Diamond’s voice startled her, but she quickly regained her composure.  
“Y-yes, my Diamond,” she stuttered. Without looking at the other gem, she frantically tried to make up a plausible reason for her shortcoming. She didn’t want to have her physical form destroyed in a fit of rage. She couldn’t tell her that she’d stopped doing her job because she got emotional. She wouldn’t have cared. Pearl herself knew she shouldn’t have cared about a Pearl who disappeared centuries ago.  
“Good.” Pearl’s eyes widened. “I was going to delete all that nonsense, anyway.”   
Yellow Diamond went back to ignoring her. Relief washed over Pearl, but she didn’t stop focusing on her Diamond.  
Pearl supposed it was pleasant to have someone always pay attention to you, to how you felt, to what you wanted.  
She stood in place, doing just that, clenching her jaw, ignoring her own pain.


	4. Rhodonite's Pearl

She liked that Ruby talked to herself, reminiscing her past missions, while she guarded Morganite’s door.   
She was probably doing it because Rubies were naturally chatty, no matter how many of them were around.   
She must’ve thought nobody could hear her. She definitely hadn’t noticed that, on the other side of the door, there was a lonely Pearl who always listened to her.  
Once, when she was sure nobody but Ruby could hear her, she answered.   
Heartfelt laughter came from the other side of the door.  
Pearl got a little less lonely with every word they said to each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Who's read too many soriel fics? *points at self*)  
> Anyways, this fic is finished, I hope you enjoyed it :D  
> Huge thanks to all the people who read the fic, or left kudos, or bookmarked the fic, or subscribed!


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